No Cover Image

Journal article 109 views

ReporTor: Facilitating User Reporting of Issues Encountered in Naturalistic Web Browsing via the Tor Browser

Nicholas Micallef Orcid Logo, Cameron Cartier Orcid Logo, Kevin Gallagher Orcid Logo, Lucas Zagal Orcid Logo, Sameer Patil Orcid Logo

Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, Volume: 2026, Issue: 1

Swansea University Author: Nicholas Micallef Orcid Logo

Abstract

The privacy properties of Tor Browser and the privacy sensitivity of its user base preclude the collection of traditional telemetry and analytics to understand the problems users face. To address the lack of telemetry and analytics, we developed ReporTor, a plugin to facilitate anonymous, voluntary...

Full description

Published in: Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies
Published:
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70986
first_indexed 2025-11-25T16:25:23Z
last_indexed 2026-01-13T05:32:10Z
id cronfa70986
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2026-01-12T20:50:26.8152555</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>70986</id><entry>2025-11-25</entry><title>ReporTor: Facilitating User Reporting of Issues Encountered in Naturalistic Web Browsing via the Tor Browser</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>1cc4c84582d665b7ee08fb16f5454671</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-2683-8042</ORCID><firstname>Nicholas</firstname><surname>Micallef</surname><name>Nicholas Micallef</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2025-11-25</date><deptcode>MACS</deptcode><abstract>The privacy properties of Tor Browser and the privacy sensitivity of its user base preclude the collection of traditional telemetry and analytics to understand the problems users face. To address the lack of telemetry and analytics, we developed ReporTor, a plugin to facilitate anonymous, voluntary reporting of problems during naturalistic browsing via Tor Browser. We confirmed the utility and effectiveness of ReporTor by reporting the problems we encountered during a month of naturalistic web browsing via Tor Browser. Reports submitted via ReporTor enabled nuanced, in-depth analysis of the causes underlying the reported problems. Integrating ReporTor into Tor Browser can leverage its anonymous user-driven issue reporting to surface the challenges users encounter when visiting websites with Tor Browser. Analyzing and addressing the reports can enhance the user experience of Tor Browser for everyday web browsing.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies</journal><volume>2026</volume><journalNumber>1</journalNumber><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher/><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic/><keywords>Tor, Tor Browser, User Experience, Privacy, Anonymity, Issue Reports</keywords><publishedDay>0</publishedDay><publishedMonth>0</publishedMonth><publishedYear>0</publishedYear><publishedDate>0001-01-01</publishedDate><doi/><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Mathematics and Computer Science School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>MACS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Other</apcterm><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2026-01-12T20:50:26.8152555</lastEdited><Created>2025-11-25T16:06:12.8132860</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Science and Engineering</level><level id="2">School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Nicholas</firstname><surname>Micallef</surname><orcid>0000-0002-2683-8042</orcid><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Cameron</firstname><surname>Cartier</surname><orcid>0009-0000-3335-9114</orcid><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Kevin</firstname><surname>Gallagher</surname><orcid>0000-0002-2714-7841</orcid><order>3</order></author><author><firstname>Lucas</firstname><surname>Zagal</surname><orcid>0009-0003-3850-5004</orcid><order>4</order></author><author><firstname>Sameer</firstname><surname>Patil</surname><orcid>0000-0002-8214-0765</orcid><order>5</order></author></authors><documents/><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2026-01-12T20:50:26.8152555 v2 70986 2025-11-25 ReporTor: Facilitating User Reporting of Issues Encountered in Naturalistic Web Browsing via the Tor Browser 1cc4c84582d665b7ee08fb16f5454671 0000-0002-2683-8042 Nicholas Micallef Nicholas Micallef true false 2025-11-25 MACS The privacy properties of Tor Browser and the privacy sensitivity of its user base preclude the collection of traditional telemetry and analytics to understand the problems users face. To address the lack of telemetry and analytics, we developed ReporTor, a plugin to facilitate anonymous, voluntary reporting of problems during naturalistic browsing via Tor Browser. We confirmed the utility and effectiveness of ReporTor by reporting the problems we encountered during a month of naturalistic web browsing via Tor Browser. Reports submitted via ReporTor enabled nuanced, in-depth analysis of the causes underlying the reported problems. Integrating ReporTor into Tor Browser can leverage its anonymous user-driven issue reporting to surface the challenges users encounter when visiting websites with Tor Browser. Analyzing and addressing the reports can enhance the user experience of Tor Browser for everyday web browsing. Journal Article Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies 2026 1 Tor, Tor Browser, User Experience, Privacy, Anonymity, Issue Reports 0 0 0 0001-01-01 COLLEGE NANME Mathematics and Computer Science School COLLEGE CODE MACS Swansea University Other 2026-01-12T20:50:26.8152555 2025-11-25T16:06:12.8132860 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science Nicholas Micallef 0000-0002-2683-8042 1 Cameron Cartier 0009-0000-3335-9114 2 Kevin Gallagher 0000-0002-2714-7841 3 Lucas Zagal 0009-0003-3850-5004 4 Sameer Patil 0000-0002-8214-0765 5
title ReporTor: Facilitating User Reporting of Issues Encountered in Naturalistic Web Browsing via the Tor Browser
spellingShingle ReporTor: Facilitating User Reporting of Issues Encountered in Naturalistic Web Browsing via the Tor Browser
Nicholas Micallef
title_short ReporTor: Facilitating User Reporting of Issues Encountered in Naturalistic Web Browsing via the Tor Browser
title_full ReporTor: Facilitating User Reporting of Issues Encountered in Naturalistic Web Browsing via the Tor Browser
title_fullStr ReporTor: Facilitating User Reporting of Issues Encountered in Naturalistic Web Browsing via the Tor Browser
title_full_unstemmed ReporTor: Facilitating User Reporting of Issues Encountered in Naturalistic Web Browsing via the Tor Browser
title_sort ReporTor: Facilitating User Reporting of Issues Encountered in Naturalistic Web Browsing via the Tor Browser
author_id_str_mv 1cc4c84582d665b7ee08fb16f5454671
author_id_fullname_str_mv 1cc4c84582d665b7ee08fb16f5454671_***_Nicholas Micallef
author Nicholas Micallef
author2 Nicholas Micallef
Cameron Cartier
Kevin Gallagher
Lucas Zagal
Sameer Patil
format Journal article
container_title Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies
container_volume 2026
container_issue 1
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description The privacy properties of Tor Browser and the privacy sensitivity of its user base preclude the collection of traditional telemetry and analytics to understand the problems users face. To address the lack of telemetry and analytics, we developed ReporTor, a plugin to facilitate anonymous, voluntary reporting of problems during naturalistic browsing via Tor Browser. We confirmed the utility and effectiveness of ReporTor by reporting the problems we encountered during a month of naturalistic web browsing via Tor Browser. Reports submitted via ReporTor enabled nuanced, in-depth analysis of the causes underlying the reported problems. Integrating ReporTor into Tor Browser can leverage its anonymous user-driven issue reporting to surface the challenges users encounter when visiting websites with Tor Browser. Analyzing and addressing the reports can enhance the user experience of Tor Browser for everyday web browsing.
published_date 0001-01-01T06:46:08Z
_version_ 1857625751240572928
score 11.096768

Similar Items